Chapter 40: Finally Encountering Whitebeard
Hearing Jinbei's declaration, Ayaan rolled his eyes. "This guy is bold."
He couldn't even defeat the enhanced Ace, let alone the stronger Yamato. How could he possibly fight both of them at once? Who gave him that kind of confidence?
After Jinbei's words, both Ace and Yamato looked visibly embarrassed. Yamato scoffed, "Who asked you to join us anyway? You're too arrogant!"
Ace's response was simpler—he launched a Fire Fist attack using the power of the Mera Mera no Mi without hesitation.
Yamato cried out, "Ace, that's so shameless! You attacked without warning!"
"Haha! Leave this guy to me!" Ace laughed, dashing toward Jinbei with renewed energy.
Seeing Ace already charging in, Yamato had no choice but to step aside, leaning on her iron kanabō and watching the fight seriously.
The Sea Knight, Jinbei, was no novice. Coating his arms in Armament Haki, he met Ace's flames head-on, neutralizing the fire attack with a powerful Fish-Man Karate: Water Shot.
Fish-Man Karate drew strength from water, and although they stood on frozen sea, the steam and residual water from Ace's flame-based techniques gave Jinbei enough vapor to generate pressure.
Still, this was not the same Ace from before. His battle against Yamato had honed his mastery over Haki and combat technique. While Jinbei would have held an advantage over the old Ace in watery terrain, the current Ace was steadily overwhelming him.
Ayaan stroked his chin and commented, "At this pace, Ace won't need five days and nights like last time. One or two days should do it."
As expected, after nearly a full day of intense battle, Ace emerged victorious.
Rather than humiliating Jinbei, Ace calmly asked Ayaan to help treat his opponent's wounds.
"The fish-man body structure... not very useful to me now," Ayaan muttered as he healed Jinbei. "It might've helped me back when I first got my powers, but after two transformations from the Baku Baku no Mi, this level of physical enhancement doesn't benefit me anymore."
At most, he might become like Jack the Drought—unable to drown in the sea, but still immobilized underwater.
Once treated, Jinbei didn't say much. He nodded silently to Ayaan, then turned and dove into the sea.
Before he disappeared, Jinbei turned back and spoke bluntly to Ace. "You're already strong—among the Supernovas, you're one of the top. But you're still far from the level of the Four Emperors. Challenging Whitebeard now is unwise."
Ace didn't argue. Deep down, he understood. After countless battles in the New World, even he realized he still had room to grow.
But the New World didn't allow retreat or delay. There was no turning back for the Spade Pirates.
---
Three Days Later
On the vast horizon, a colossal ship approached—its whale-shaped bow breaking through mist and clouds.
The Moby Dick, flagship of the Whitebeard Pirates.
"What a huge ship!" Yamato exclaimed, swinging her iron rod lightly. "So this is our opponent… I never imagined I'd face Whitebeard himself."
Back in Wano, Yamato's favorite pastime had been reading Kozuki Oden's journals—tales from his days sailing with the Whitebeard Pirates.
But now, she was part of the Spade Pirates. And if Ace was challenging Whitebeard, Yamato would follow him without hesitation.
At the bow of the Moby Dick, stood the giant of a man himself—Edward Newgate, the strongest man in the world. Holding his supreme-grade blade, Murakumogiri, he narrowed his eyes with a gentle smile.
"Is that brat Ace?" he asked casually.
Beside him stood Jinbei, who had just returned a few days earlier.
"Yes, that's him," Jinbei confirmed. "The horned girl is also a powerful fighter. She has an ice-based Devil Fruit—likely a variation of the Hie Hie no Mi (Ice-Ice Fruit). The boy leaning against the railing has immense healing capabilities."
"Compared to ordinary Supernovas, the Spade Pirates are far stronger."
He didn't add the rest: If given time, they might become one of the Four Emperors themselves.
Whitebeard didn't seem particularly surprised or interested in that. He continued watching Ace thoughtfully, a strange flicker of memory in his eyes.
After a long pause, Whitebeard gave a warm, booming laugh.
"Well, guess I better say hello to the little brats myself!"
Marco, standing beside him, panicked. "Dad! You don't need to personally go! Your health—let us handle this!"
But Whitebeard waved him off. With a mighty stomp and a raised fist cloaked in Gura Gura no Mi energy, he struck the air.
The sea was silent for a beat.
Then the ocean itself screamed—a thunderous quake shook the sky. A tsunami rose, and hurricane winds blasted out from the shockwave.
"Gurararara! I'm not old enough to be coddled yet, Marco!"
Marco could only smile bitterly. Whitebeard had done crazier things in the past. This was nothing new.
The truth was, Whitebeard wasn't worried about winning or losing.
He was worried that if things escalated, his sons would seriously injure Ace—or worse. He didn't want that.
He wanted to adopt Ace.
To Whitebeard, the damage to flags or pride didn't matter. As long as his family wasn't hurt, he could overlook anything.
He was like that.
He'd fought Gol D. Roger for decades, but after Roger's death, he began to feel something missing. The world had changed. And now, he saw something in Ace that reminded him of old days… and of Roger.
But of course, the Spade Pirates didn't know any of this.
As the roaring tsunami approached, they could only stare in shock at the approaching force of nature.
It was like watching the will of the sea descend upon them.